Nigeria: I Married Two Abducted Schoolgirls - Boko Haram Kingpin

A Boko Haram leader, Hassan Ali, who was reportedly arrested by the local vigilante in Maiduguri three weeks ago, has confessed that he got "married" to two of the abducted Chibok schoolgirls in Sambisa forest.

LEADERSHIP was reliably told that Hassan Ali, a native of Kwapchi-Kilakise village who was said to have killed his biological father, Mallam Hassan Arigizhe, and his uncle, Zakariya Ali, was also said to have sanctioned the killing of his younger sister whom he forcefully took to Sambisa when she refused to accede to the sexual demands of one of the Amirs (leaders) in Sambisa, an act that elevated him to the position of Amir too.

According to the officials of the Vigilante Group of Nigeria in Borno State, Hassan was arrested by the Civilian-JTF and members of the VGN when he was spotted in a car trying to leave Maiduguri for Benisheik, along the Damaturu-Maiduguri highway.

A VGN official said: "It was on the first day that we mobilised to Pilgrims Camp when we wanted to be given permission to go to Sambisa in search for the missing girls. When he was asked to identify himself, he pretended to be a dumb person. But those that knew him said he was lying and they started to beat him up; it was when he sensed death that he later confessed that he was a member of Boko Haram, and that he was sent to come to Maiduguri to buy yams worth N200, 000. He said he had finished his transaction and the truck had since left for Sambisa.

"When we asked him about the abducted girls, he said they were all fine, that none of them was being hurt or molested; he said as a matter of fact he was betrothed to two of them as wives due to his position as Amir. He said they eat good food there - mostly canned foods and canned drinks; they eat spaghetti, rice, smoked fish and yam.

"I was the one that personally interviewed him when he was arrested near Njimtilo at the outskirts of Maiduguri, towards Damaturu. I even took some jotting of his statement before we later left him with the Sector-6 officials of the Civilian-JTF. I did not take his photograph but some of our local hunters who had camera phones did. Unfortunately, all of them had gone back to their various localities after the state government had disbanded us last week."

LEADERSHIP cannot independently verify this report, even though many members of the Civilian-JTF in the state attested to such incident happening. None could tell the whereabouts of the Boko Haram kingpin, Hassan Ali.

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